Harald V of Norway has a unique birthright. The first Norwegian-born prince for hundreds of years, he is also the great-grandson of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, placing him in the line of succession to the British throne.

As 60th in line, it's not likely that he'll ever become monarch of the UK, but, more important to his people, his birth in 1937 marked the first time in 567 years that a Norwegian prince had been born in the country he would rule.

Paradoxically, the present Norwegian royal family did not achieve their status through age-old traditions but through an election. Their roots are not even Norwegian. Following an onslaught of the Black Plague, the Norwegian line died out in 1387. For centuries, the country was forced to enter into unions, first with Denmark and later with Sweden. It was only in 1905 that Norway gained complete independence, but in an overwhelming mandate, the Norwegian people voted for a monarchy, and the Norwegian parliament elected the Danish Prince Carl to the post. He took the name Haakon VII, following the traditions of the medieval kings of independent Norway.

Harald represents the third generation of the Norwegian royal family, having succeeded to the throne in 1991, on the death of his father Olav V, Haakon's son.

Three years before his coronation, Harald had already become the subject of controversy when his father announced that his son would marry a commoner, Sonja Haraldsen. The marriage went ahead only when King Olav consulted the government, the president of the Storting (the national assembly) and parliamentary groups within the Storting.

It is a measure of Queen Sonja's success in winning the hearts of her people that when King Harald took his oath of allegiance to the Constitution in the Storting during his coronation, his queen accompanied him, the first time in 69 years that a queen had entered the national assembly.

Despite the king's status as chief of state, he holds relatively little power. The executive powers granted to him by the constitution are usually exercised by the Council of State. The king does hold "reserve powers", which were last used during World War II. Harald's functions are mainly ceremonial, but he has influence as the symbol of national unity.

Today, the Norwegian economy is a prosperous combination of free-market activity and government intervention. Thanks to the discovery of oil and gas in the late 1960s, Norway's economy has been considerably boosted. Only Saudi Arabia and Russia export more oil than Norway. Oil and gas account for one-third of Norway's exports.

The government is currently attempting to curb spending on the country's extensive welfare system. It is also planning for the time in the future when petroleum reserves could be depleted.

The Norwegian population is about 4.6 million, nearly 8 per cent of whom are immigrants - Pakistanis, Swedes, Danes, Iraqis, Vietnamese and Somalis. GDP per capita stood at $42,400 in 2005.

King Harald has suffered major health problems in recent years. In 2003-2004, he was treated for urinary bladder cancer, and in 2005, he underwent surgery for an aortic valve replacement. Just three months after the operation, however, he had recovered enough to win the European Championships in ocean sailing.

His Majesty has been an avid sportsman for most of his life.

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BELGIUM: Prince Albert

Only a Belgian, perhaps, could fathom the complexities of their country's politics or even the intricacies of the Belgian royal succession.

One king, Leopold II (late 1880s), is infamous today for the cruelty of his rule over the African Congo basin, which made him very rich but which is the root of the social unrest and economic poverty that continues to plague the region.

Albert II, the current King of the Belgians, was not raised to be king. His father, King Leopold III, and his wife Queen Astrid of Sweden had three children, Josephine-Charlotte (born in 1927), Baudouin (born in 1930) and Albert (born in 1934). Queen Astrid died in a car accident in 1935, when Albert was only 15 months old.

After Germany's invasion of Belgium during World War II, the royal family was taken to Germany and later to Austria, where they were held prisoner. Leopold's brother Charles was named regent when the country was freed in 1944. At the end of the war, a year later, Leopold expected to return to the throne, but the Belgian people rejected him because of his controversial relations with the Germans, and his brother remained regent until 1950. In that year, Leopold held the throne briefly but was forced to abdicate in favour of his oldest son Baudouin I.

As king, Baudouin helped restore the people's confidence in the monarchy, but because he and his wife, Queen Fabiola, were unable to have children, Philippe, the oldest son of his younger brother Albert and his wife Donna Paola Ruffo di Calabria, was groomed as heir apparent. When Baudouin died suddenly in 1993, however, parliament named Albert king, and not his son.

At first glance, Albert did not seem an obvious choice. Already with a daredevil reputation and a slightly irreverent attitude, his enthusiasm for motorcycles was considered inappropriate in a royal. In addition, his wife, Queen Paola, had become the first Belgian royal to be photographed in a bikini. On the other hand, parliament wished to maintain national cohesion, and Albert seemed to have more political experience than his son did. Belgium is both linguistically and culturally divided. Two major languages are spoken: Dutch (sometimes called Flemish), is spoken in Flanders to the north, while French is spoken in Wallonia in the south, and a German-speaking minority is officially recognised in the east of the country. To complicate matters further, the capital, Brussels, is in the Flemish part of the country but is predominantly French-speaking.

Despite these complexities, Belgium offers a high quality of life to its population of around 10 million. Illiteracy is almost non-existent, and all citizens over the age of 18 are required to vote. The leaders of the four major religious groups - Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jews and Muslims - are paid by the state.

Lacking natural resources, Belgium's economy is highly dependent on world market trends. Although its public debt is nearly 100 per cent of GDP, it is one of the few countries in the EU to have balanced its budget.

As king, Albert is not allowed to take any official action without the approval of a minister, and his ministers are held accountable for his actions. Rather, he is traditionally considered a moral leader. Over the years, people have come to appreciate Albert's practical approach and his charm.

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QATAR: Sheikh Hamad

A relatively young ruler of a relatively young emirate, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, seems to be combining the traditions of absolute power with the willingness to bring reforms to his country.

Born in the capital Doha in 1952, Sheikh Hamad quietly took power from his father, Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad al-Thani, in early 1995, when the emirate was not even a quarter of a century old.

Qatar had been dominated by Persians for millennia, then by Bahrain, the Ottoman Turks and finally Britain, which maintained the country as a British protectorate for 55 years. In 1971, a year before he assumed power, Sheikh Khalifa declared his country independent. His selection as emir was supported by the people of Qatar, the armed forces and the ruling family.

Sheikh Khalifa began his reign when Qatar was among the poorest countries in the region, depending largely on a declining pearl-fishing industry. During his tenure, the country grew into one of the richest by exploiting its large oil and gas fields. The Qatari economy continued to grow, but from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s, the growth was limited by the emir, who was suspected of siphoning off revenues. In 1995, while he was vacationing in Geneva, Switzerland, his son, Sheikh Hamad, assumed control of the country. He also tried to take his father to court for the return of state funds he believed his father had kept. The dispute was settled out of court.

The family rift was healed in 1996, when Sheikh Hamad and his father reconciled. As soon as he assumed power, Sheikh Hamad began modernising the country. In addition to 1999 municipal-council elections, which were the first to allow Qatari women to vote and stand for office, a constitution providing for democratic reforms went into effect in 2005. An election for a partially elected legislative body is expected to take place by 2007.

Censorship of the media was lifted in 1995, bringing with it perhaps Sheikh Hamad's best-known international distinction as the founder of the Qatari satellite TV station al-Jazeera, which was launched in 1996. The outspoken station gained an international reputation when it became the only broadcaster to operate from Afghanistan and the first to record statements by Osama bin Laden following the beginning of US strikes against Afghanistan in 2001. Although facing criticism from the US for supporting the Hamas-led Palestinian government with a reported US$50-million (Bt1.9 billion) donation, Qatar has also pledged more than $100 million to colleges and universities in the US State of Louisiana affected by Hurricane Katrina. Qatar is heavily dependent on its huge oil reserves, and aims to become the world's leading liquefied natural gas exporter by 2007. Current output levels of oil, however, are expected to last only another 23 years. To stimulate the private sector and develop a "knowledge economy", it established the Qatar Science & Technology Park in 2004 in efforts to attract technology-based companies.

Not directly accountable to anyone, Sheikh Hamad holds supreme executive and legislative power.

Nevertheless, he must follow the Sharia as well as various Qatari traditions, such as ruling by consensus and the right of all Qataris to appeal directly to him.

Laurie Rosenthal

The Nation